Elected officials and civic leaders offered a dire assessment during a panel discussion Wednesday about the forces shaping the Suncoast region: Local control over rapid development has essentially crumbled.

“The state legislature has been held entirely non-accountable for the deterioration of home rule and their empowerment of developers,” said former Sarasota County Commissioner Jon Thaxton. “Hold them responsible,” he added, to applause.

Thaxton and four other panelists spoke before a crowd of nearly 100 people at Frances T. Bourne Jacaranda Library in Venice as part of Suncoast Searchlight’s community engagement series in partnership with Gulf Coast Community Foundation. The event — the second in the series — was titled “Power and Profit: How development is shaping the Suncoast,” after the media organization’s coverage of the proliferation of special improvement districts.

Speakers urged the public to elect local officials and state lawmakers willing to push back against developer interests. They also lamented the implementation of legislation, including Senate Bill 180, that has preempted local control over growth.

SB 180, in particular, drew scorn. The new law limits local governments’ ability to regulate development and has hampered environmental protection efforts. In response to a question about how the county can support rapid growth without sacrificing the environment, Thaxton again spoke forcefully.

“There is no balance between development and protecting Sarasota’s natural environment,” he said. “You can spend decades writing good environmental policies [and it] can be removed in weeks.”

Thaxton now serves as director of policy and advocacy for Gulf Coast Community Foundation and sits on the Sarasota County Planning Commission.

Susan Schoettle, former assistant county attorney for Sarasota County, nodded to community-led efforts to acquire land for conservation purposes.

“I strongly support the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Acquisition Program — I think it’s done a great job,” said Schoettle, referring to a referendum-funded program that has helped protect conservation land around Sarasota County. But she called for measures to ensure those lands remain protected in perpetuity and not subsequently “declared surplus” and sold.

“The language that we approve at the next referendum needs to be iron-clad,” Schoettle said.

In Manatee County, commissioners who were elected in 2024 with a mandate to limit growth learned how state preemptions can thwart environmental protections. After they sought to reinstate wetlands protections that previous commissioners had scrapped — including requiring buffers of 50 feet between building projects and wetlands, the state Department of Commerce warned the policies would run afoul of SB 180. The board postponed the vote.

“The environment is being destroyed,” said Evelyn Dixon, who attended the event and said she shares concerns about the impacts of development on natural habitats. “They’re tearing up the wetlands, and it’s like it doesn’t matter what we say about it.”

CDDs lending developers power

In an investigation published earlier this year, Suncoast Searchlight reporters revealed one key way that developers have flexed their power in the region — through independent special districts, including the commonly known community development districts, or CDDs. By getting district status, developers can finance building projects through municipal bonds paid back by homeowners who end up with little power over community maintenance and operations.

“It was interesting to us how much control [developers have] and how much power they had over the residents that live in their districts,” said Derek Gilliam, an investigative reporter with Suncoast Searchlight who moderated the Wednesday panel.

Schoettle, the land use attorney, explained why the CDD model has drawn scrutiny.

“Essentially you’re letting them clothe themselves like a local government,” she said. “But what’s driving this entity is private interest, not public interest.”

One panelist, John Meisel, is currently the only elected member of the West Villages Improvement District board in North Port. He described how the community development district model grants developers disproportionate control over their districts — far and beyond the residents who live in them.

“We had an issue in the improvement district where the developer-controlled board hired a lobbyist to change the legislation that governs our district,” said Meisel. “So that they could change the means and manner in which representation turns over from developer control to resident control – this used our money to further guarantee that for the next 10 to 15 years, the developer will control [our] board.”

Sarasota County Commissioner Tom Knight argued that these developer-controlled districts can put pressure on the surrounding roads and infrastructure — which developers do not have an obligation to maintain.

“We can’t keep up with the growth,” said Knight.

The panel discussion highlighted how anger about development and local control cuts across political differences.

“It’s a collective issue,” said Rick Mikluscak, a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Sarasota County. Mikluscak joked that as a libertarian he does not like the word “collective,” but said he felt it appropriately described the concerns he and others share about moves by the Republican-controlled state legislature to preempt local control over policymaking.

Meisel, who sits on the West Villages Improvement District board, urged attendees to think carefully about who they elect to represent them, locally and in the Florida state legislature.

“It really is going to come down to you as a voter, letting [lawmakers and officials] know how you feel. You can make it painful for a developer to develop,” said Meisel.

“You don’t have to give away the farm.”

Alice Herman is an investigative watchdog reporter for Suncoast Searchlight. Email her at alice@suncoastsearchlight.org.